To be honest, this student wasn’t particularly special at the beginning.
He wasn’t some kind of Chinese genius. No one spoke Chinese at home. At school, he was just barely keeping up in his Chinese class.
But in the end, he scored a 7 in IBDP Chinese.
Not because of luck.
Not because of a last-minute cram session.
But because of one thing: consistent weekly sessions – every week, without exception.
Here are the core difficulties he faced, and how his tutor worked through them with him, week by week.
Difficulty 1: Paper 1 – wrong format, wrong tone, every single time
The first time he wrote a Paper 1 task, it was a complaint letter –
no salutation, no closing, and the tone sounded like he was texting a friend.
What they did each week:
- Week 1: Just format. Memorised the template for each text type (email, blog post, speech, complaint letter).
- Week 2: Tone differentiation. Same content, completely different tone – writing to the principal vs writing to a friend.
- Week 3 onwards: One timed Paper 1 every week. His tutor marked strictly against the criteria. Wrong format? Marked “points deducted” immediately.
The result:
Three months later, he never made format mistakes again. And his tone shifted automatically depending on who he was writing to.
Difficulty 2: Individual Oral – couldn’t speak for 10 minutes, froze at the picture
The first time he did a mock Individual Oral,
he was given a picture of a festival celebration. He said three sentences:
“There are many people in the picture. They are celebrating. Uh… that’s it.”
Then silence.
What they did each week:
- First, learned fixed sentence patterns for describing pictures: “图片左边是……”, “右边有一个人正在……”, “这让我想起……”
- One IB theme per week (culture, technology, health, environment, customs) – prepared 10 keywords for that theme and practiced only that theme for the week
- One mock IO every week – timed + recorded. Listened back together after class to find where he got stuck or went too short
- Practiced emergency phrases: “不好意思，可以再说慢一点吗？”, “我想说的是……”
The result:
- From 45 seconds in his first mock, he gradually stretched to 2 minutes, then 5 minutes, then 8 minutes.
- Two weeks before the exam, he could easily speak for the full 10 minutes – and he wasn’t afraid of follow-up questions anymore.
Difficulty 3: Listening – “I understood it, but I still chose the wrong answer”
Whenever he did listening practice, the same thing happened:
He finished the recording, felt like he understood everything, then checked the answers – half were wrong.
What they did each week:
2-3 past paper listening exercises every week, without fail
His tutor broke down common traps:
- The recording says A first, then changes to B → the answer is B
- “I wanted to go, but I didn’t have time” → the answer to “Did he go?” is No
- Trained him to catch keywords: time, place, numbers, negative words (“不”, “没”), transition words (“但是”)
- One “trap recognition” exercise each week – no questions, just listen and identify where the recording was trying to mislead you
The result:
- His listening accuracy went from around 60% to consistently above 85%.
- On exam day, he said: “The moment I heard ‘但是’, I knew the previous option was wrong.”
Difficulty 4: Reading – the texts weren’t hard, but the questions kept tricking him
His problem with reading wasn’t “I don’t understand” – it was “I keep falling for the trap options.”
What they did each week:
His tutor taught him to read the questions first, then the text – read with a purpose
Analysed types of trap options every week:
- Not mentioned in the text ❌
- A word or two changed ❌
- Overgeneralisation ❌
- One timed reading practice every week – forced him not to spend too long on any single question
- For every wrong answer, he had to write one sentence explaining: “What was the trap here?”
The result:
- He started spotting the “small changes” in options immediately.
- In his own words: “I used to think every option looked right. Now I know which one is fake.”
Learning the All Round Way
Witness how consistent weekly sessions with a top IB Chinese tutor build unstoppable momentum, refine sophisticated skills, demolish exam barriers, and deliver a perfect score of 7 through proven strategies and relentless progress. If you find yourself needing more guidance, we invite you to connect with us at All Round Education Academy. Our dedicated team is here to support you in achieving your academic goals. For more information, please contact us at [email protected] or +852 6348 8744.